Veteran Wolterink guides young German team to success in Stare Jablonki

“Guys, put on something warm otherwise you cool off too soon!”

Speaking like a father to his sons, Germany captain Jörn Wolterink warned his young teammates right after Wednesday’s match against Romania for the chilly wind blowing over Court 4 at the Beach Handball EURO 2019.

“That’s my role as the captain, to take care and look after them,” Wolterink told eurohandball.com. “Also on the court, of course, bringing some calmness and building the guys up, when they have just missed a shot.”

While the 35-year-old and 2.01-metre-tall captain is playing his third Beach Handball EURO, many of his teammates are having their debut in Stare Jablonki this week. In fact, five members of the German squad were part of the under-18 team which won the European title in Montenegro a year ago.

Rejuvenating the team

The success of the youth team came exactly at the right time for head coach Konrad Bansa, who was in the process of rejuvenating the men’s senior team following disappointing showings at the last two EURO events, finishing eighth in Lloret de Mar in 2015 and ninth in Zagreb two years later.

“The plan was to make the squad younger, and we did that. We have five players from the 2000 generation,” Wolterink said, referring to Moritz Ebert, Fynn Hangstein, Felix Karle, Emil Paulik and Hendrik Prahst, who have all made the step to the senior team this year.

“These guys have almost no problems in adjusting from junior to senior level,” Wolterink said. “Moritz in goal has done very well so far this tournament, Emil on the left was very strong against Norway and also today, Fynn has integrated well as one of the specialists. They have all become part of the team in a very smooth way.”

While the younger players might have easily found their stride in the senior team, they still need a guiding force like Wolterink, according to Bansa.

“He has a central role. The younger players need someone they can look up to. Jörn has this personality, not just the handball skills,” the head coach said.

Bringing invaluable experience to the team

Wolterink brings invaluable experience to the team. He already played internationally at the age of 19 when he reached the quarter-final of the EHF Cup 2003/04 with Bundesliga side HSG Nordhorn. Nowadays, he is playing for regional-league team SG Neuenhaus/Uelsen.

In beach handball he represents the BHC Sand Devils. He led the Minden-based club to consecutive German national titles in 2015 and 2016, becoming top scorer and MVP of the latter event.

Helped by Wolterink’s experience, the young team showed off its qualities in the 2:0 against Romania in their opening match on Wednesday. Having previously beaten defending champions Spain and Norway, this was Germany’s third straight win in Group A, securing them a berth for the main round, which starts Thursday.

“I didn’t expect us to beat Spain yesterday, but it obviously gave us the perfect start in the tournament,” Wolterink said. “We were a bit fortunate in the shoot-out but that’s how beach handball works: you need that bit of luck. For us it was important to know that we can beat the European champions - and any other team here.”

After their confident start, Germany seem on their way to improve from their results at previous Beach Handball EUROs. And if they do, a ticket for the World Championship 2020 in Italy would be close as the five best-ranked teams - or six, if Italy are in the top five - will qualify.

“That’s the wish, that’s the dream we want to fulfill. The big goal is to finish in the top four,” said Wolterink, who put a smile on his face when thinking about the possibility to play his first beach handball worlds at the age of 36. “If I can add that to my career, it would be gigantic.”

Photos: Uros Hocevar / kolektiff / EHF